Brahmatal vs Dayara Bugyal: Which Is A Better Snow Trek?

In this week’s episode of Trek Talks with Vishnu Benne our host Vishnu has a very special guest on the show. Indiahikes founder, Arjun Majumdar tells us what makes both, the Brahmatal and Dayara Bugyal treks outstanding peak winter treks when pitted against each other.

Most people don’t know this, but January and February are peak winter months in the Himalayas. December just marks the beginning of winter with the first winter snow coming in. That’s when most treks that reach the 12,000 ft mark are accessible. But as weeks pass by more and more snow accumulates on the slopes, leaving most trails blocked.

It’s during this peak winter season that two gems of treks, Brahmatal and Dayara Bugyal, are still accessible to trekkers.

Indiahikes was the first to bring Brahmatal as a winter trek to the forefront of the trekking world, among other treks like Kedarkantha. To give you a backgrounder, we opened Kedarkantha as a winter trek in 2011. Today, it is popular enough to have nearly 700 trekkers trekking there with us in the winter season alone. It took six years for Kedarkantha to reach this level of popularity.

But Brahmatal is a trek that Indiahikes opened only two years ago. To give you some numbers, there are already 500 trekkers going to Brahmatal season.

The question is what makes Brahmatal suddenly so popular?

Listen to this podcast to gain some insight into this topic. Vishnu and Arjun have an insightful conversation about these two treks.

Both these treks are fairly new treks. In fact, Indiahikes is running the Dayara Bugyal as a winter trek for the first time.

The two frozen lakes and the tales about the beautiful forests towards the trail are just a few of the many reasons why Brahmatal is becoming the next Kedarkantha. But like Arjun says, Brahmatal’s landscape beauty speaks for itself. You don’t have to do much except chance upon a photograph from the trek to want to go on the trek.

When we talk about Dayara Bugyal, we’re talking about vast meadows covered with powdery snow. Now imagine this winter setting surrounded with mixed forests of maple, oak, pine and rhododendrons. All this with big mountains like Bandarpoonch and Srikanth right in front of you. It’s a pity there are no winter pictures from Dayara Bugyal yet!

But if you had to pick one, which one would it be? Listen to the podcast and drop in your comment!

Stay tuned to our weekly podcast for more information on high altitude trekking.

Karishma Jayapaul is an assistant content manager at Indiahikes. A journalist by profession, she loves to write about real life experiences. Her love for fitness and writing made her join the Indiahikes content team. Baking is her first love, while in her free time she plays the piano.

12 thoughts on “Brahmatal vs Dayara Bugyal: Which Is A Better Snow Trek?”

Hi – We are four people (1-2 of us are beginners). Which is the best winter trek for Last week of January for us? Our preference is snow trekking. Kedarkantha or Dayara Bugyal or Brahma Tal? If this is a factor, which trek has minimal risk of being closed. Can you please email the suggestions to rameshkumar7789@gmail.com?

Hi Ajay,
You will get snow for sure on the Dayara Bugyal trek in late December/early Jan. In fact, it has already started snowing at the summit and higher camps of our Kedarkantha, Chandrashila-Deoriatal and Hari ki Dun treks which are at a similar altitude as Dayara Bugyal, so don’t think twice!

Hi Team,
Couple of us would like to do a winter trek in the month of Jan/Feb. Do you think for fit but relatively novice trekkers like us, would Brahmatal Trek be a right option to begin with ?
If not, what are our alternative options that you would recommend.
Thanks !

HELLO WE ARE SIX PEOPLE FOUR OF US AREA BEGINNERS . Which is the best trek for us in march first week ? Our preference is snow trekking.
Kedarkantha or Dayara Bugyal or BrahmaTal
Pls Suggest and mail me at sanjayfrnz@gmail.com
thanks

Hi Swaroop,
All the three are great winter treks. I’d recommend you go tp Brahmatal. It has great summit views and beautiful forest trails. In the first week of April, rhododendrons will be in full bloom, adding a lot of colour to the forests here.

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Karishma Jayapaul is an assistant content manager at Indiahikes. A journalist by profession, she loves to write about real life experiences. Her love for fitness and writing made her join the Indiahikes content team. Baking is her first love, while in her free time she plays the piano.